Digging of the Ohio-Erie Canal began in 1825, and the first canal boat navigated the Deep Cut at Licking Summit in 1831. Surrounding swamps were drained to create the Licking Reservoir, today known as Buckeye Lake, to supply adequate water for the canal north to Coshocton and south to Circleville. After the canal route was established, state engineers discovered a ridge of hills south of the proposed reservoir through which the canal would have to pass. Because the reservoir level could not be raised, the ridge had to be cut down to that level. The Deep Cut became the deepest part of the canal at 32 feet and ran south from Millersport for nearly two miles. Unskilled laborers, primarily Irish immigrants, dug the canal with picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, and oxen-cart. In 1825, Mathias Miller settled just north of Monticello, and Millersport grew from his idea to build a wharf beside the canal as a port for canal boats. Between the Licking Reservoir and the northern entrance of the Deep Cut, Millersport flourished as canal trade increased, while Monticello's high-ground location led to its decline. By canal, Millersport was 191 miles from Cleveland and 117 miles from Portsmouth. During its peak years, as many as 3,000 canal boats used the canal, but with the rise of the railroad system and a major flood in 1914 that damaged part of the waterway, the canal system was abandoned.